I don't know Rydell, never heard his "conservative talk-show" or read his books. I find Rick's description in this article pretty funny though.
Rydell is a conservative talk-show host who has written a couple of books about hunting in Alaska. In his books, Rydell scoffs at the very idea of law enforcement and principles of ethical hunting. According to "Alaska Happens," it took him seven shots to kill a caribou.
I've seen worse... Once the first shot lands, the only ethical thing to do is kill the thing, as quickly and cleanly as possible. I tend to keep shooting until things are dead.
He called Alaska's Tier II subsistence hunts a "discriminatory practice."
Anyone disagree with that?
He described a "grouse netting" competition using four-wheelers and dipnets, but ended that story with a caveat to enforcement officers: "If you find some of these stories contrary to laws that you have the option, responsibility, or requirement to enforce, then that part was all made up."
That sounds like a blast! Maybe I should get his book.
In "Blood on the Tundra," Rydell claimed the Alaska Department of Fish and Game "guidelines are for tourists."
Ok, so... that probably isn't something I'd like to see written by someone on a F&G advisory panel.
He took a 350-yard shot at a walking Dall sheep ram and a 300-yard shot into a running herd of caribou.
"Running herd of caribou" would be bad. Walking ram? I guess I would have waited for him to stop.
"I wasn't really counting on a hit," he wrote. He deliberately left garbage outside for a bear to find, then shot the bear without a bear-baiting permit.
Good for him. He shouldn't have put that part about leaving garbage out in a book though.
The state law prohibiting hunting on the same day you are airborne? It's a "goofy regulation," according to Rydell.
It is goofy, in that it is pretty tough to enforce. But a good rule.
Not enough moose? It's "not hunters who are the problem, it's wolves, cars and just plain old bureaucratic mismanagement."
That sounds consistent with what ADFG has reported (he forgot to mention bears). In fact, I think they use aerial hunting of wolves (sorry, "ungulate enhancement") to address one of those issues don't they?
He even "takes issue" with mandated hunter-safety classes.
So do I. I take issue with most pointless and costly barriers to completely legal activities.
The whole panel is funny. But any panel with Rossi on it will be funny. The article is at once interesting, funny and ridiculous.
